Posted on April 27, 2025 View all Pastor's Letter
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,
As a Church, we continue to celebrate the Lord’s Resurrection, His triumph over death, and within this Easter joy, today we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday. The Divine Mercy is something that goes far beyond a particular devotion. In his encyclical Dives in Misericordia, Saint John Paul II explains that Divine Mercy is the loving manifestation of God in a history wounded by sin and that God places our miserable situation due to sin in His Fatherly heart, which is faithful to His designs. Jesus Christ, dead and risen, is the supreme manifestation and action of Divine Mercy. “God so loved the world that He gave his only Son” (Jn 3:16) and sent Him to death so that we might be saved. I like a phrase from the Easter Proclamation we sing at the vigil. It expresses God’s mercy so well when it says: “To redeem the slave, He sacrificed His Son.” This is God; He loves us with mercy. For this reason, through faith and conversion, we welcome the treasure of Divine Mercy.
Our bishop ordained seven new transitional deacons this weekend (Saturday the 26th), who will become seven new priests next year. The ordination is a great blessing for our diocese and the entire universal Church. These are great signs that our diocese is moving forward on the right path. Let us thank God for His merciful love and for giving us abundant vocations. Among the seven deacons is one of our parishioners, Teko Agbo, who will preach his first Mass as a deacon today. I thank everyone who collaborated to make his celebration so beautiful and well-organized. I am certain that our new deacon will be a great priest. On this Sunday of Mercy, I invite you to ask Jesus in His Divine Mercy to give us more vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. Congratulations to the new deacons of our diocese!
I cannot but thank all those who committed to the Bishop’s Lenten Appeal at the beginning of Lent. As a parish, we have a goal to achieve. This year, we are behind on achieving it. Therefore, I encourage those who have not yet done so or are considering supporting this program. You can do so electronically; in the pews, you can find the QR code to access with your phone or take one of the envelopes. On behalf of our Bishop Burbidge, I thank you for your sacrifice and collaboration.
Finally, I invite you to join me in praying for the repose of the soul of our Holy Father, Pope Francis. He has faithfully served the Church since 1969, and has been the shepherd of the whole Church for the past 11 years. We thank God for the blessing of Pope Francis and we pray for a special mercy on him in light of his difficult role in the church.
Have a happy week!
Fr. Alex
